Method of constructing oil storage



Dec. l5, 1925l 1,566,110 E. 'MALLERY METHOD OF CONSTRUGTING OIL STORAGE Filed May 9, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet l ME/VTOB HTT'ofQ/VEY@ Dec. 15, 1925- E. MALLERY METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING OIL STORAGE Filed May 9. 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Dec. 15, 1925.

UNITED STATES ELLIS MALLERY, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING OIL STORAGE.

pplieation. led May 9, 1923. Serial No. 687,701.

To all 'whom 'it may concern.'

Be it known that I, VELLIS MALLERY, a citizen Vof the United States, residin at Los Angeles, Los Angeles Count ali- I fornia, have invented a new an useful Method of Constructing Oil Storage, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the art of storing petroleum oil. It very frequently happens that there is an over production of such oil which accumulates due to lack of transportation facilities. As the rate of production cannot always be controlled it becomes necessary to store such oil above ground in-suitable containers. The large oil companies have in the past stored this oil in large tanks of 55,000 barrels capacity or larger situated in what are known as tank farms; but such tanks are expensive to build and maintain '20 and the oil stored therein is exposed to certain fire hazards, to lossthrough leakage,

and to general deterioration due to eva oration therefrom. It has also been t e practice to store petroleum oil in earthen reservoirs which may be lined with concrete. Such reservoirs are generally cheaper tthan tanks but the losses from eva oration are considerably greater and the re and loss hazards are also greater.

I propose to employ a reservoir in which oil may be Safely stored over long periods without loss by evaporation or seepage, and in which the oil is fully protected against iire and other hazards. It is an object of my invention to provide a novel method by which such a reservoir may be produced ata small expense and in a very short time.

Further Vobjects and-advantages will be made evident hereinafter.

Referring to the drawings which are for illustrative purposes only:

Fig. 1 is a plan view o a battery of reservoirs illustrating a preferred method of construction.

Fig. 2 is a section through a cover dock on a plane'indicated b the l1ne 2 2 of Fig. 1 but on a larger sca e than Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section showing the method of excavating for the walls of the reservoir.

Fig. 4 is a partial section throu h the completed reservoir with the oil t erein, showing the outline of the cover floating cana Fig. 5 is an enlarged section, showing the ,55 cover f Fig. 6 is a section of a com leted reser-` voir on a plane indicated by t e line 6-6' of Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is a reduced fragmentary plan view of a modilied form of reservoir.

In the practice of my invention I employ a reservoir which is formed in land having a water level slightly below the surface of the ground, this level being preferably main-V tained constant within narrow limits by natural conditions. Such land is very com-A mon throughout the country and is usually low in cost due to its being swampy and hard to till or utilize. The reservoir is formed by sinking walls into the earth enclosing a considerable area of such land and then digging or dredging out the space formed by said walls, and locating on the top of the water carried in the excavation so formed a cover which is preferably formed of concrete. The oil is then introduced under this cover displacing the water and gradually filling the reservoir. The oil is protected from evaporation by the floating cover, from loss by seepage by the watjer which fills the bottom of the reservoir, and is maintained constant by the natural ground waters of the land in which the reservoir is formed. In a co-pending application I have described the many advantages of this form of reservoir. In this application I will describe .a fpreferred method of producing one form o such a reservoir.

In the practice of my invention, I prefer to form large reservoirs capable of holding one and one half million barrels of oil, such a reservoir being about six hundred feet square and havin an effective depth of about twentyfive eet. I also prefer to arrange these reservoirs in batteries of four or more for convenience in fabrication. The method of construction is as follows.

I first of all produce one side wall 11 of the batter this side wall in the case of a. battery o three reservoirs being 1800 feet long. This wall is produced by the simple expedient of running a trenchln machine 12 along the'surface of the rroun as shown in Fig. 3,: the machine 12 igging a trench which is something over twenty-five feet deep and from one to two feet wide. In this trench the wall 11 is cast from concrete without attempting to pump the water'from the trench, the concrete settmg under water. Wood forms may be used on the inner side 11 of the trench near the top thereof, to make the upper part of the inner surface of the wall smooth and of the proper dimensions.

Adacent to this wall 11 I then cut a cover floating canal 10, which extends down below the natural water level gg of Fig. 4 about three feet, so that a shallow channel 1s formed the entire length of the battery adjacent to the wall 11 as indicated by the dotted lines 13 of Fig. 1- and 14 of Fig. 6. The purpose of this canal is to float the cover sections into place from the cover dock 15, which is formed at one end of the battery adjacent to the concrete storage and mixing plant 16. The cover dock consists of a shallow basin having space enough therein to cast a cover section` 17, each 0f these sections having yan area of one ninth of the proposed units" so that nine cover sect tions are required for each unit'. In the case vof the six hundred foot square umts above mentioned, the cover sections will be two hundred feet square and will lconsist of a thin web 18 about three inches thick and a surrounding flange of scmewhat similar thickness and about thirty inches high.

The cover dock is deep enough to allow the cover sections to float therein, extending down some two feet or so below the ground water level gf-g of Fig. 4 and Fig. 5. The cover doek is formed with an enclosing concrete wall 2O and with a level concrete bottom 21 which is, as just explained, two feet below the ground water level. The dock is at the extreme end of the cover floating canal 10, and forms an extension thereof. In the canal 10 I place a gate or dam 25, which is preferably formed of steel, and which may be lifted clear of the channel by suitablejy gearing carried on the structure 26. This@ gate closes the fromJ of the cover dock and allows the water to be pumped therefrom by a pump 19, which is done before a cover section is cast therein.

In casting the cover sections, suitable forms are used such for example as the outer forms 27 and the inner forms 28, the forms 27 and 28 being suitably tied together withwires 30 and struts 31, and the whole being suitably braced against the surrounding wall 20 of the cover dock. .The concrete is mixed under carefully controlled conditions in the plant 16, and delivered to the forms 27 and 28 by conveyors or spouts according to standard practice. The cover is then allowed to set for several hours until it is hard enough to allow the forms to be withdrawn. Water is then allowed to' slowly enter the dock. For the purpose of .naking the lifting power of the water effective, I employ a laver of loose sand onrocl: 35 in the bottom of the dock covering this sand with tarred paper before casting a section thereon. When the water is turned into the dock, it percolates through this sand and inesatto acts to lift or buoy up the section which floats like a boat on the water. The gate is then raised and the section may be floated on the water downthe canal 10, and the process of manufacture repeated on another section.

During the time the cover sections are being cast the trenching machine 12 continues to make the walls 40, 41 and 42 of the first reservoir A, these walls being of their completed or final height except vfor a low portion 43 of the wall 42, which is low enough to allow a cover section to be floated through the channel 10 on the natural ground water level into the first reservoir A.

As soon as the walls 40, 41 and 42 are complete, the earth in the reservoir A is excavated preferably with suction drcdges or by any other well known means, no attempt being'made to prevent the entry of water into the reservoir, which is therefore held full of water up to .or near the level g-g. Since the water stands at this level outside; the walls 11, 40, 41 and 42, it is evident that the walls are not subjected to any considerable displacing pressure during the formation ofthe reservoir or thereafter, and hence need not be considered as retaining walls, except to a very limited extent to compensate for the greater weight of the mud and earth outside the Wall. .The Walls may hence be made very thin."\., Some of the cover sections may be floated \into the reservoir before the excavation is completed.

The cover sections are kept partly filled with water until they are thoroughly set and seasoned, and they are floated consecutively into the reservoir A untinine of them are in place therein, substantia ly filling the top of the reservoir, at which time the space 43 may be filled in to the height of the other walls l1, 40 and 41. The reservoir A is then complete and may be filled with oil introduced through a pipe 60, having a flexible joint 65. The oil being lighter than the water rises therethrough and floats under the cover sections which in turn floats thereon. As the oil is run in, the water is displaced, sinking through -the porous bottom of the reservoir into the surrounding earth, or in case that is not rapid enough, the water may be pumped out through a pipe 61 in a well 62 communicating through an opening 63. This pipe may also be used to introduce water if necessary'. After the first reservoir is completed, the other reservoirs B and C are also completed in the order named, the cover sections all being made in the cover dock durin the excavation and building of the walls of 'the successive reservoirs so that the work can be carried on systematically and expeditiously. Since the cover sections are made one at a time and under carefully controlled conditions of mix and'set, they are very much stronger than they would be were. they cast in'the manner used on most construction work. Moreover, by casting the covers adjacent to a fixed plant, many economies in the handling and mixing of mate-- yas shown in Fig. 7 if desired, and that this separation may be considerable, it only being necessary to extend the channel 10 between reservoirs. This separation of reservoirs is objectionable on account of higher cost, but better in view of the fire or seepage risks and may in some cases be preferred.

It is necessary to provide means for freeing the tops of the cover sections of water in case of heavy rains. Since the covers are quite deep and have considerable excess buoyancy, `it is possible for several inches of rain to accumulate therein without causing them to become submerged. For the purpose of drawing oil' any such rain water I provide pumping stations 70 alone` the wall 11. They are each provided with a pump and have a flexible hose which is long enough to reach to all of the cover sections of the reservoir served by that particular pump. After each rain the operator pumps out each section in turn, the pumps having sufficient capacity to handle the heaviest downfall that ever occurs before another is likely to occur.

From the foregoing it will be evident that I have devised a cheap andefficient method of forming oil storage and that the storage when formed has a peculiar efficiency due to the use of the cover section, and the ground, water as enclosing envelopes for the oil. It is also evident that the concrete being reproof and only`a small crack being exposed between the around the cover sections that the fire risk is very small, and lire may be quickly smothered by suitable foaming mixture producing devices such' as are common in the art. It is also e-vident that the oil being stored mostly below the water level of the earth in which the reservoir is placed, is kept at a low temperature even during the summer months which low temperature may be also obtained by keeping a few inches of water in the cover sections so that there is a free evaporation thereform.

I claim as my invention:

1. The method of covering a reservoir, which comprises: forming a buoyant cover in a dock outside said reservoir; and floating said cover into place in said reservoir.

2. The method of forming a covered reser- Voir, which comprises: excavating a space to form a reservoir below ground water level excavating a dock below ground water level; forming a buoyant cover in said dock; and floating said cover into said reservoir through a canal between said dock and said reservoir.

8. The method of forming a covered reservoir, which comprises: excavating a space to form a reservoir below ground water level; excavating a dock below ground water level; exhausting the water from said dock; forming a buoyant cover in said dock;

and floating said cover into said reservoir through a canal between said dock and said reservoir.

4. The method of forming a covered reservoir, which comprises: excavating a space to form a reservoir below ground water level; excavating a dock below ground water level; casting a buoyant cover of concrete in said dock; and floating said cover into said reservoir through a canal between said dock and said reservoir.

5.The method of forming a covered reservoir, which comprises: excavating a space to form alreservoir below ground water level; excava 'ng a dock below ground water level; exhausting the water from said dock; casting a buoyant cover of concrete in said dock: and floating said cover into said reservoir through a canal between said dock and said reservoir.

In testimony whereof` I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles, California, this 4th day of May, 1923.

ELLIS MALLERY. 

